Zeb's Reflection
by Spectre6
Summary: On his birthday, Zeb reflects about his time with the crew that he now calls family. One-shot.


**Author's note:** Suy'cuy! I haven't seen many stories that focus on the 'karablast' creator, so I thought I'd give it a try. This story will be entirely from Zeb's thoughts, there won't be any dialogue, and is a oneshot. There will be references to Ezrabine/Sabera and Kanera.

Constructive criticism is welcome!

-Garyn

p.s. There will be certain things purposely misspelled because Zeb doesn't care enough about the Jedi shenanigans to remember. :P Also, the ending is slight fluff.

* * *

For the entire crew, today was a day to celebrate. For Zeb, it wasn't a big deal. He never really thought too much of his birthday, or birthdays in general, but he appreciated the enthusiasm his family showed. Hera had said they'd celebrate later after Ezra and Kanan did their usual training. Zeb had wanted to help make some repairs that the Ghost needed, but under Hera's motherly persuasion that he take it easy on his big day, Zeb was in the room he shared with Ezra. ' _Why doesn't Ezra move in with Sabine already so I can have my own room?_ ' he thought, smirking. Having done nothing thus far for the day, Zeb was a bit restless, and decided to take a walk. Discovering the Ghost was empty, Zeb didn't get very far as he walked down the ship's ramp and spotted the crew, enjoying the weather of the planet they had stopped on.

Zeb's eyes roamed over to Hera, who, as usual, was trying to get some minor work done on the Ghost. Hera truly was the mother of this crew whether she intended it or not. It made Zeb smile as he thought back to when they first met. Zeb hadn't been sure of Kanan and Hera's intentions, but they offered a chance to do good and stick it to the Empire. How could he resist? Hera could certainly be strict when it came to certain things, such as her beloved Ghost. When she was mad, even the annoyance known as Chopper knew to hide. With how much work she did, and how hard she tried to do good for the Rebellion, Zeb couldn't help but wonder if Hera was aiming to achieve the top ranks of the Rebellion. Zeb doubted it, as the more she progressed in ranks the less chance she'd have to be on the Ghost and with her crew, something nobody, especially Hera, wanted. Next to Hera was Chopper, the bucket of bolts that Hera made. There was a lot you could say about him and his personality. Zeb wondered where Chopper got his personality. Hera had never really explained how she found Chopper, just that she fixed him up when she was a child. It was possible a younger Hera acted silly and played pranks, hence where Chopper got his personality. He couldn't imagine that. A younger Hera that wasn't serious and focused?

Looking to his right, he spotted Sabine standing in her usual fashion of hand on hip and a bit of a sway with her body. Sabine had joined the crew after him, and was one of the youngest members of the crew. Initially, Zeb was taken off-guard by just how colorful and artistic this young Mandalorian was. While Zeb didn't have a lot of experience with Mandalorians, he knew they generally weren't the type that Sabine displayed, making her a unique young woman. Zeb's experience in war and with his own people told him there was more to Sabine than she'd ever admit. Sabine displayed a hard, disciplined personality. Well, most of the time she was disciplined. Zeb noted a few occasions where she had let her age speak for her, which Zeb didn't blame her for. She was young, and obviously in pain from something in her past. The one thing about her that Zeb had come to love was how she adored explosions, specifically the ones she caused. Zeb could somewhat understand her fascination with explosions, but that wasn't necessarily art. Was it? Since she'd joined them, Sabine had grown to become a very smart, dependable person, and someone Zeb considered a younger sister. There had been something that always made Zeb feel slightly bad for Sabine, and that was she was the only one of her age group on the crew. Sure, Chopper is young, but Zeb would say he's more 10 years old. He chuckled at this primarily because it was true. The interesting thing that Zeb had noticed, however, was how she acted towards their youngest member, Ezra. In the beginning she brushed him off and ignored any of his flirting. Much to his own surprise, the two had become quite close over the years to the point where they were best friends and rarely went anywhere without the other to watch their back. Zeb could already tell they'd be in a relationship eventually.

Zeb followed where Sabine was looking to find Kanan and Ezra meditating, as Jedi usually did. His eyed locked to Kanan, and he folded his arms. Kanan was still the most mysterious of the crew members, and was the "father" of the crew. They knew of his past as a Jedi and his master...Billa something, but there wasn't much else. Ever since Zeb had joined he noticed Kanan and Hera had something together. At first he thought nothing of it, but as their crew progressed, he, and even the new members realized Hera and Kanan were a couple, even if they denied it. Zeb still had a lot of questions about Kanan, such as what did he do before joining Hera, what did he do after it **(A/N "it" being the purge)** happened. How long had it taken before he met Hera? Did Kanan have any family? There was still more to him, and Zeb was curious to discover about him.

Last, but certainly not least, the blue-haired Loth Rat known as Ezra Bridger. The first time Sabine and Zeb met Ezra they didn't care for him at all. Hell, Zeb had even left the kid behind to get captured by the Imperials. Zeb had regretted doing it at the time, but he felt even worse upon realizing the boy was a force user. While Zeb didn't know much about the force, thanks to Kanan he knew that force users, specifically Jedi, got the worst kind of Imperial torture. While it was long over with, Zeb wouldn't forget how he could've gotten Ezra killed by abandoning him. To his own credit, Ezra had all but laughed at them when they came to "rescue him". Aside from having to live on the streets for his younger years, his time with the crew had proven to them all that Ezra was more than capable of holding his own in the world. Ezra had actually come a long way since they'd first met. Ezra wasn't exactly selfish, but he initially was more on the side of cautious about food and other items being his alone. Zeb understood this completely. When you live on the street with no money and no guaranteed food, if you do get anything at all, you need to keep it close. Nowadays, while the old prankster, silly Ezra shows himself sometimes, Ezra has become quite mature. Despite this, Zeb has noticed Ezra always wanted to do the right thing regardless of the outcome. Zeb already knew this was bad, but as Kanan put it in Jedi speak, "it could lead to the dark side." There were times where Zeb wondered if the death of his parents fueled Ezra's fire to help everyone at any cost, even his own life. It had to have some kind of influence, why else would he of wanted more power from that mumbo jumbo Sith holocrany thingy. Despite his previous mess ups and bad choices, Ezra was someone Zeb respected and knew he could trust to have his back. While he was not the love of Ezra's life Sabine, he was still Ezra's _brother_.

Thinking about everyone made Zeb realize just how right Sabine had been the first day Ezra arrived on the Ghost. They were more than a crew. They were a _family_ , and they always would be. Zeb was proud to be part of this family, and proud to be part of something bigger than himself. With a grin on his face and no regard for the meditating lightsaber spinners, Zeb yelled. "Where is my birthday cake?"


End file.
